Before you go! Claim your FREE painting projects guide

32-page skills guide

Simple step by steps

Exciting techniques

Expert advice

Artists & Illustrators will email you the downloadable painting projects guide, as well as our newsletter full of expert tips, guides and inspiration, and any marketing offers relevant to you as an artist, as detailed in our Privacy Policy.

How to paint an orchid in watercolour

Botanical illustrator and artist Fiona Swapp shows you how to capture this pretty Dendrobium nobile orchid

Four years ago I received this orchid as a birthday gift from my parents, and found it quite different to the moth orchids I see day-to-day in Aberdeen’s florists and garden centres. It was in bud and ready to flower when I was asked to create an exotic painting for this article, so it was the perfect opportunity to tackle this specimen with gusto.

My usual limited palette of three colours (Aureolin, Indanthrene Blue and Helios Purple for this plant) could be too advanced for some beginners, so I have used paint with limited mixing straight from pans to show what can be done with layering. I have limited the use of wet in wet, although it’s an effective technique that I use day-to-day in my artworks – as do many botanical artists – I have found students who are not used to wet-in-wet find it quite challenging. Here goes.

1 I started with preparatory sketches from the live plant on A2 200gsm cartridge paper. From these drawings I created a composition using the live plant and close-up photographs of where the flowers and leaves attach to the stem, noting parts of the plant and colour mixes as I went along.

2 With the composition fixed, I transferred the image onto paper using a lightbox. Normally, I would use an H or 2H pencil with light strokes. For this demo, I drew in a B pencil. Once transferred, I used the white tac to remove excess graphite.

3 I started the painting with a no 5 brush adding an underlayer of Green Gold where there were warm tones on the leaves, stem and flowers. The centre of the flowers were enhanced with a orange mix of yellow and Helios Purple, and Permanent Sap Green at the very centre.

4 Adding layers of Oxide of Chromium, I paid attention to the shadows – I brushed in the direction of any lines I saw. This helped to give the plant form. Use a magnifying glass to help you see the details of the plant and also while you are painting.

5 When the green base was finished, I added the Permanent Magenta by placing a wash of water on the first of the flower buds. Once the water layer had created a slight sheen, I dropped in some colour. I worked on the shaded areas and then used the dry brush technique on the body of the bud using the paper surface to give a light, textured appearance.

6 I started painting the open flowers with Permanent Magenta the same as on the sepals but, as there were distinct markings on the petals and lip, I used the tip of the brush to create a pattern by scumbling.

7 Once the flowers had their basic colour, I over-painted them with a thin layer of Helios Purple in the areas that had brighter pink on the petals.

8 Finally, I enhanced the veining on the buds and on any petals and sepals that were showing the reverse with Violet Dioxazine.

9 You will notice that, at this stage, I decided to amend the inner lip of the lower flower, as I found there was too much orange in the centre. I did this by lightly wetting the area I wanted to remove and using a dry brush to pick off the colour.

10 On the stem’s paler green areas there was a sheen of blue, so I added a very light wash of Indanthrene Blue to give the same impression. I also used Indanthrene Blue in the darker areas of the leaves and stem to sculpt them more.

11 The final touches were made using the no 3 brush, adding some Green Gold to the stem’s pale joints and veins, as well as adding the final details to the centre of the flowers with a pink-red mix of Helios Purple and Aureolin, and Permanent Magenta to the edges of the lip of the flowers.

The Author

Artists & Illustrators is Britain’s most popular magazine for practising artists, whilst also being equally relevant to professionals, aspiring amateurs or to those who paint purely for pleasure. Full of step-by-step practical advice, readers’ own work, exclusive features on famous names and expert product tests, this is the top publication for every artist seeking inspiration, whether they favour painting, drawing or printmaking.